Planetary Society To Award Second Round of
Asteroid-Discovery Grants

The Planetary Society is seeking applications for
the second round of selections for the Gene
Shoemaker Near-Earth Object Grants. The purpose of
the grant program is to increase the rate of
discovery and follow-up studies of asteroids and
comets in Earth's vicinity by enabling amateur
observers, observers in developing countries, and
professional astronomers who, with seed funding,
could greatly increase their programs'
contributions to this critical research.

The deadline for receipt of applications for the
second round of selections is June 30, 1998.
Previous awardees will not be considered for the
present selection and applicants for the first
round wishing consideration in the second
selection are requested to submit new, updated
applications. Application
forms are available on this web site.

The Society's NEO Grant Program is coordinated by
Daniel D. Durda, an asteroid researcher at the
University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary
Laboratory. An international advisory group,
including noted near-Earth object scientists
Richard Binzel of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Clark Chapman of the Southwest
Research Institute, Andrea Carusi of the
Spaceguard Foundation, and Brian Marsden of the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will advise
the Planetary Society on the selection of awards
for the grants.

Facing the Threat of Comets and Asteroids

Popular awareness of the threat of comet and
asteroid impacts has increased dramatically in
recent months with the report of a close approach
past Earth of the asteroid 1997 XF11 in October
2028 and the summer release of the movies Deep
Impact and Armageddon.

Earth lives in a swarm of near-Earth objects of
different sizes and orbits. Scientists have only
recently begun to understand the significant
contribution NEOs have made to the evolution of
Earth -- and of life on Earth -- just as impacts
from comets and asteroids have contributed to the
evolution of all planets throughout the solar
system.

Less than 200 NEOs have been discovered thus far.
Scientists estimate that there are several
thousand such NEOs larger than one kilometer and
150,000 to perhaps 100 million larger than 100
meters in size.

While various astronomical groups and NASA
advisory committees have strongly recommended
discovery of these objects be accelerated,
government support for NEO search and follow-up
programs remains modest.

"At the current rate of discovery, it would take
decades to find a majority of even the large
NEOS," says Planetary Society Executive Director
Louis Friedman.

The Planetary Society hopes that its NEO Grant
Program will help map the potential hazards of the
future, allowing humanity to better understand the
threat of cosmic collisions.

The Society is cooperating with the Spaceguard
Foundation, a European-based international
organization, to help fund and promote discovery
of near-Earth objects.

Previous Grant Recipients

The first four Gene Shoemaker Near-Earth Object
Grants were awarded at the Celebration of Life
service honoring Shoemaker at the US Geological
Survey Flagstaff Field Center on October 11, 1997.
The grants, totaling more than $35,000, were
awarded to Gordan Garradd of Australia, Kirill
Zamarashkin of Russia, Walter Wild of the United
States, and Bill Holliday of the United States for
upgrades to their programs to search for NEOs.

The Society funds for the NEO Grant Program come
from its 100,000 members worldwide, whose
voluntary dues and donations permit targeted
support to research and development programs.